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What is this invasive plant and how do I get rid of it?

Markjg65EKMarkjg65EK Posts: 7
in Problem solving
This plant has engulfed and destroyed a fir tree and another unidentified shrub. It's grown to over 2m high and spread its ground covering rooted tentacles over an areas of about 3sqm. I've cut away most of the plant to ground level but these ground runners are proving impossible to remove. Help! 

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Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    welcome to the Forum.
    It might be a jasmine. They have masses of fibrous yellow roots. Does that sound familiar.

    Devon.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited April 2021
    That's my first thought too ... one of the jasmines.  The branches can develop roots when they touch the ground. It's a case of some good solid digging I'm afraid.  Good luck. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I thought it might be jasminium beesianum . Does it have pink flowers?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Markjg65EKMarkjg65EK Posts: 7
    Yes it has small yellow flowers. Pretty enough from a distance but has taken over everything in its growing spread. 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited April 2021
    It's some other kind then. When does it flower? Is it in the late autumn?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    With yellow flowers, it sounds like it could be Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) - the stems root wherever they touch the ground with those.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    It could be winter jasmine, that has yellow flowers in winter. When does it flower? It can grow up to 3m. But I find it surprising that it has destroyed a fir tree.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Markjg65EKMarkjg65EK Posts: 7
    It's a late flowerer. It's reached a height of well over 2m. I could just see the top of a conifer trough it. Having cut back the jasmine it revealed a virtually bare conifer, with whatever foliage was left being black and brittle. Same with the other large shrub it engulfed. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If the conifer is bare it's unlikely to regrow new shoots and become green ... very few conifers do that ... it might be preferable to keep the jasmine to cover it.  If you remove the jasmine you'll have to get rid of the conifer too ... what's the other large shrub?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Markjg65EKMarkjg65EK Posts: 7
    I can't identify the other shrub as there is no foliage on it - just dried up branches. The jasmine has been cut back. The conifer will have to be cut down. If I can get most of the jasmine, conifer and shrub roots out then I'll have a clear area to start a project from scratch. 
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